Despite all his fulminating about “fake news,” it appears that our President-whose definition of‘fake” is any coverage (covfefe??) he doesn’t like—isn’t above generating some fakery of his own.

Remember Trump’s preening over his massive, multi-billion dollar "deal" with Saudi Arabia? Bruce Reidel of The Brookings Institution reports that no such deal exists.
Last month, President Trump visited Saudi Arabia and his administration announced that he had concluded a $ 110 billion arms deal with the kingdom. Only problem is that there is no deal. It’s fake news.
I’ve spoken to contacts in the defense business and on the Hill, and all of them say the same thing:There is no $ 110 billion deal. Instead, there are a bunch of letters of interest or intent, but not contracts. Many are offers that the defense industry thinks the Saudis will be interested in someday. So far nothing has been notified to the Senate for review. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the arms sales wing of the Pentagon, calls them “intended sales.” None of the deals identified so far are new, all began in the Obama administration.
In my ethnic group, this is what we call chutzpah. (Chutzpah is sort of like nerve or gall, but on steroids.The standard example is the guy who kills his mother and father and then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he’s an orphan.)

Chutzpah: (n) I. unmitigated effrontery or impudence; gall. 2. audacity; nerve.

It appears that the “Art of the Deal" braggart, the guy who"makes the best deals," lied through his teeth again, this time about a huge transaction that doesn’t exist-and to the extent it may exist in the future, it was initiated by his "Kenyan" predecessor. As Reidel also notes:
“Moreover, it’s unlikely that the Saudis could pay for a $ 110 billion deal any longer, due to low oil prices and the two-plus years old war in Yemen. President Obama sold the kingdom $ 112 billion in weapons over eight years, most of which was a single, huge deal in 2012 negotiated by then-Secretary of Defense Bob Gates.To get that deal through Congressional approval,Gates also negotiated a deal with Israel to compensate the Israelis and preserve their qualitative edge over their Arab neighbors.With the fall in oil prices, the Saudis have struggled to meet their payments since.”

Reidel isn’t above snarke says we’ll know the Trump deal is real when Israel begins to ask for money to keep the Israeli Defense Forces’ qualitative edge preserved.

A deal that evidently is coming is a munitions sale to the Royal Saudi Air Force, which will enable the Saudis to continue air bombardment of Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country.

Finally, just as the arms deal is not what it was advertised, so is the much-hyped united Muslim campaign against terrorism. Instead, the Gulf states have turned on one of their own.SaudiArabia has orchestrated a campaign to isolate Qatar.SaudiArabia,the UAE,Bahrain, and Egypt broke relations with Qatar. Saudi allies like the Maldives and Yemen jumped on the bandwagon. Saudi Arabia has closed its land border with Qatar.

This is not the first such spat but it may be the most dangerous.The Saudis and their allies are eager to punish Qatar for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, for hosting Al- Jazeera, and keeping ties with Iran. Rather than a united front to contain Iran, the Riyadh summit’s outcome is exacerbating sectarian and political tensions in the region.

The Middle East has long been the world’s most dangerously unstable area. Now we have put management of the tensions generated there in the hands of the most dangerously unstable person ever to occupy America’s Oval Office-a man who has no ability to distinguish between reality and ego gratifying bullshit.

What could possibly go wrong?

Our annual Pride Month FREE Raffle is going strong
BUT don't miss your chance, only days left to enter!

Over $1,000 in prizes!!!

To enter, click here and fill out a quick entry form. No cost and no purchase necessary! You can enter daily, but the contest ends June 30th, so hurry! A very special thanks to our donors for this year...

StageWorks Fresno: The Full Monty
8 tickets, valued at $216

Crazy Squirrel Game Store
5 board/card games, valued at $115

Ficarra Studios
Photo session and 8x10 print, valued at $100 

Valley Animal Center
Two Gift Baskets valued at $100
Pet microchip, Calendar, Large safety leash, Treats, Jar and Toys.

Fab Fresno
Patron Silver Tequila 1.75 L, valued at $100

Suzie's Adult Superstores
Two Curious Wands, valued at $100

Starbucks - Milburn Ave
Various coffee products, valued at $99
Whole bean coffee, Via Instant, Narino 70 Cold Brew Coffee, Five Verismo Starter kit

Amenities Day Spa & Salon
$50 gift certificiate

Chase Flowers
$50 Gift Certificate
(local orders only)

Starbucks - Tower District
Mug, Cup, Via instant coffee, Valued at $47

SCC Designs
Handmade Necklace, valued at $30

The Dragon's Treasure
Handmade Necklace, valued at $30

Neighborhood Thrift
$25 Store Credit

40 Minute Massage, valued at $20

Total US Retail Value of all prizes is $1,082

The owner of Pulse nightclub in Orlando announced plans to build a permanent memorial and museum on the building’s grounds to honor the victims of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
Club owner Barbara Poma said the OnePulse Foundation would raise funds to go toward a memorial, community grants for survivors’ families,scholarships and a museum with artifacts and stories of that fatal day.
“We will not let hate win,” said Poma, who founded Pulse in 2004to honor her brother,who died of HIV/AIDS in 1991 ."We will ensure that no one of this generation and the generations to come will ever forget what happened here.” The Pulse shooter, Omar Mateen, was later killed by police.

The mass shooting brought an outpouring of support from around the world. Poma wants the memorial to be part of a "healing initiative” for victims’ families, survivors, and first responders. She had planned to sell the building to the city of Orlando to build a memorial on the site. However, she ultimately decided to lead the memorial construction herself and declined to sell to the city.

“I now know that my role is to ensure Pulse as a place of healing," she said. Earl Crittenden, the chairman of the OnePulse Foundation, said the charity is accepting donations on its new website to build an "iconic, meaningful” monument. He also announced the foundation’s board of trustees, which includes business executives as well as pop star Lance Bass and former NBA player Jason Collins.

Your hair is grayer than it was back then. You’ve both packed on pounds here and there,too. A few wrinkles surround your smiles,but that’s okay–you’re not fresh faced kids anymore. You’ve aged, you’ve softened and,in the new book “Transitioning Together” by Wenn & Beatrice Lawson,you’ve changed quite a bit.
Long before they met, Wendy and Beatrice had a lot in common: both came from families of similar sizes. Both had fathers that “didn’t have a head for figures” and mothers who ran the family businesses. Wendy and Beatrice are both on the autism spectrum.

The main difference: Wendy was a married woman.

They met one afternoon when Wendy, her husband, and their four children were living in the home of a “well-to-do” family that had just hired an au pair. The shy
young woman didn’t speak English and Wendy didn’t speak Swiss German, but when Wendy was asked to help the girl to settle in, Beatrice proved to be a quick study. She easily learned a new language and she and Wendy forged
a close friendship. Both seemed only a little surprised when that friendship turned into love.

Wendy, who’d had health issues most of her life, never considered falling in love with another woman, but it felt right. Beatrice had an inkling that she was a lesbian but she shunned the word, afraid that it would “be an embarrassment” to her family. Even so,she settled into a relationship which was tender, and fragile from the start.

Wendy and her family moved from England to Australia as her abusive marriage was crumbling. Beatrice was unable to make the move with her beloved, due to Australia’s
immigration laws.They ultimately figured out a way to be together physically; once Wendy’s divorce was final, they knew they’d be together legally as well.

But even after their wedding,Wendy wasn’t happy. Never comfortable in her body, she felt sure that something was missing,so she sought her “tribe” before understanding that she needed to transition to become the man he’d always known he was. And that was something Beatrice wasn’t sure she could handle...

From its very beginning, “Transitioning Together” is a tough read. There’s a lot of preliminary to wade through to get to the start of the actual story here,and then there’s a lot of confusing setup that identifies authors Wenn and Beatrice Lawson by their relative ages,rather than by name.While it’s helpful, later, to have a change in font to delineate who is weighing in,you might continue to be baffled by the semi-linear nature of what is mostly Mr. Lawson’s version.

Yes, tenacious readers who can bear with this dual memoir will get a double-edged peek at the emotional process of transitioning for both partners,through the added, unique perspectives of autism and age. That’s worth the patience - if you have it.Indeed,this book could be more for professionals than for anyone else; general audiences may enjoy “Transitioning Together,” but only by a hair.

I generally shy away from basing my blogs–or my own opinions, for that matter–on material from partisan sources. Trump and his enablers may accuse traditional
media of being “fake” or biased, but that’s a tactic, not an accurate description, so I try to limit my references to places like the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, etc.

But in the aftermath of Trump’s most recent–and arguably most breathtaking–departures from anything close to Presidential behavior/circumspection/sanity, I’m breaking my rule, and sharing a Daily Kos post that spoke to me–loudly and clearly.

The obstacles to Democratic control of Congress are not emotional, and emotions are not the answer. We don’t require more “enthusiasm.” We’re not lacking in progressive ideas and candidates, nor are we shy on appropriately moderate options.

We don’t need better explanations of our positions. We’re not even hurting for dough right now.
We need voters.
And our opponents have done a damn good job for decades of blocking our voters. Gerrymandering. Voter ID. Roll purges. Our problems are structural. And they will take a great deal of work to overcome.
As regular readers know, when it comes to the importance of social and political structures, I’ve been singing that song for a long time. The author of this post goes further than diagnosis, however.
He has a prescription for what ails us. Voter ID laws are unconstitutional poll taxes. That doesn’t get rid of them. The only way around them is to identify our voters and get them the IDs. We can’t just drive
them to the polls, we have to drive them to the DMV six months earlier. And, if they can’t afford the new poll tax, we have to find a way to pay for those cards for them.

We have to make sure they are registered, and stay registered through the coming postcard purges, calling long before Election Day, checking for them and helping them re-register if they get booted.
And, on Election Day, we have to have already built those relationships. The phone calls can’t be, “Hi, I’m blah blah blah from the blah blah blah campaign reminding you to blah blah blah.” They have to be, “Hi, Phyllis, it’s Ashley. What time do you want me to pick you up?”
Admittedly, this is a lot of work. It’s so much easier to post a scathing remark to Facebook, to share a particularly pointed comment or article, and then feel as if we’ve done our part.
We can continue to preach to our choirs, engage in handwringing with those who already agree with us, and who already vote–or we can do the hard work of identifyingn on-voters, registering them, making sure
they have what they need, and getting them to the polls.
Here’s the bottom line: there is only one way to save this country from the accelerating damage to our institutions and national defense (not to mention the
raping and pillaging that the Trumpers aren’t even bothering to hide). Democrats, scientists, moderate Republicans and all sane Americans must do two things
simultaneously: we must delay and obstruct as many of their legislative assaults as humanly possible; and we must ensure that 2018 will be a wave election that will oust the Trump enablers from the House and Senate.
If we fail–if we give in to “outrage fatigue,” rely on the Democratic party or Common Cause or the ACLU to act on our behalf, or simply tell ourselves we’re “too busy” to find and equip that non-voter, we will wake
up in January 2019 to a country we don’t recognize..,and definitely won’t like.

One of the most-popular live-streamed TV series in history, Orange is the New Black, premieres its fifth season June 9, and it promises to be a roller-coaster ride.
Taryn Manning (Pennsatucky) was rumored to be leaving the cast but then denied those rumors. Lori Petty's Whitehill is on her way to the psych ward though Petty has said she will be appearing.
Orange is the New Black’s cast has grown exponentially since season one, from a story about Piper to a study on the diverse characters cooped up in Litchfield Penitentiary. The series stars Taylor Schilling, Uzo Aduba, Kate Mulgrew, Laura Prepon, Laverne Cox, Dascha Polanco, Danielle Brooks, Selenis Leyva, Samira Wiley, Taryn Manning, Yael Stone, Jackie Cruz, Lea DeLaria, Adrienne C. Moore and Elizabeth Rodriguez.

Netflix has repeatedly said Orange is the New Black is its most-watched original series. The series has backed up that claimed with numerous awards over its first three seasons, including 12 Emmy nominations and three wins for season one alone. Season two earned four Emmy nominations, with Uzo Aduba winning for best supporting actress in a drama.

Season four of Orange is the New Black left things on a pretty brutal cliffhanger. The inmates of Litchfield are rioting and Daya has retrieved a guard's gun and is pointing it directly at Officer Humphrey. It's a good bet that season five begins exactly at that point since the cliffhanger between seasons one and two was resolved nearly immediately.

The largest gay event in the Central Valley shares the story of their arduous journey to maintain LGBTQ visibility within the city of Fresno

A single spark is enough to set the world afire. The same is said for the movements that change the course of history. It starts with an idea, a single word, or a single step to set the right things in motion. In just a few days, on June 3rd, Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade and Festival will be celebrating their 27th year in the historic Tower District complete with the theme: “One Step Starts A Movement” to commemorate the many milestones achieved in the fight for Equality.

From 1955 when the first known Lesbian rights organization formed in San Francisco to the ban lift of Transgendered people serving in the U.S. military in 2016. “It is only through a community’s unity that we can overcome injustice towards all groups of people,” says the committee about their message behind the parade and festival.

Despite the impressive progress the LGBTQ community has seen throughout the country, as well as around the globe, the movement is still in full swing with the growing need for change right here in the Central Valley. But to know where this fight is going, it’s important to know where it has been and for that, we need to go back to the beginning.

“We’ve never had massive support from our allies,” shares Jeffery Robinson, Lead Coordinator, longstanding committee member, and one of the 12 original founders of the Fresno Pride Parade and Festival, “No one has ever rallied around us and [in our defense] said ‘no, we don’t put up with [hateful behavior], it’s all about inclusion, tolerance, and equality.’ That’s never happened in the city of Fresno.”

In 1991 the very first Pride parade was met with a protest from the Klu Klux Klan. But before the parade could take the flight down Olive Ave, the founders were met with resistance from members of their own community.

In the Beginning

1990 could be considered the first year of the official Pride celebration in Fresno when 12 individuals got together and decided that it was time for the local LGBTQ community to be visible. In the beginning, the parade was small and took place inside of a bar with attendees decorating baskets and carts in a similar fashion to parade floats. But it was quickly decided that wasn’t enough.

“We wanted something that couldn’t be pushed away. Something that couldn’t be closeted,” Robinson recalls from the days of establishing the parade march.

However, obtaining and securing a permit for the event was more complicated that it would seem. The early 90s was a time filled with activism for the LGBTQ community and some felt that battles were won through a delicate balancing act with regard to more conservative areas, such as Fresno, and the influential opinion was that Fresno was not ready for an ’out’ Pride celebration.

“Gay and Lesbian individuals who were in positions of leadership, who were visible community members, tried to work with the city government and Tower [District] businesses to stop us from having a parade on the streets of Olive Ave,” shares Robinson on the argument which few felt that the celebration would send the movement backwards, causing more harm than good.

The opposition failed and the permit was won. However, the committee was soon to face their next show of resistance; the KKK. Stationing themselves between what is now Sequoia Brewery and the Tower Theatre, the KKK came dressed in full traditional Klan attire complete with robes and infamous hoods, facing absolutely no opposition from any other members of the local community. But in spite of the display of intimidation, the committee was ready with a strong show of support.

Organizations from San Francisco and Los Angeles came to show their support with members representing from Queer Nation, Act Up, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and roughly 20 bikers from the Women’s Motorcycle Contingent (Dykes on Bikes) to round out the march.

Read more: Everything Begins with One Step

Periodically, I use my blog to indulge a rant about Americans’ lack of civic literacy. (Regular readers are probably getting tired of my preoccupation with civic education-or more accurately, the lack thereof.) Be warned- I’m going to beat that dead horse again today.
A column written by Colbert King from the Washington Post has highlighted still another research project confirming Americans’ low levels of civic knowledge.
King introduced the topic by noting what we might call “constitutional challenges” in Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign.
He proposed a religious test on immigration, promised to “open up” U.S. libel laws and revoked press credentials of critical reporters. He called for killing family members of terrorists, said he would do “a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding” terrorism suspects and suggested that a U.S.-born federal judge of Mexican heritage couldn’t be neutral because of his ethnicity. He whipped up animosity against Muslims and immigrants from Mexico, branding the latter as “rapists.” When protesters interrupted his rallies, he cheered violence against them. He told a political opponent that if he won,he would “get a special prosecutor to look into your situation,”
adding “you’d be in jail.” He threatened not to respect election results if he didn’t win and, in Idi Amin fashion, made the claims of a strongman: “I alone can fix it.” He publicly expressed admiration for authoritarian Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Cherished notions of religious freedom, a free press, an independent judiciary and the rights of minorities took a beating from him. The prospect of mob violence in his defense and imprisoning political opponents found favor.
An electorate with even a basic understanding of the U.S. Constitution Would have found these assaults on foundational American principles reprehensible. And in fairness, civically- educated Americans did recoil.
The problem is, we don’t have enough civically-educated Americans.
How did a pluralistic nation that propounds democratic values and practices come to this?

“This” not being the authoritarian in the White House who dismisses basic constitutional principles as if they were annoying gnats, but “this” — an electorate that looks past the disrespect shown toward democratic ideals.
That haunting question has occupied the minds of Richard D. Kahlenberg and Clifford Janey,two education scholars and writers who began to take a hard look at this fundamental domestic challenge long before November’s results came in.
Kahlenberg and Janey addressed the scope ofthe problem in a joint Century Foundation report released in November, “Putting Democracy Back into Public Education.’The report was also discussed in an article in the Atlantic, “Is Trump’s Victory the Jump-Start Civics Education Needed?”
Janey and Kahlenberg argue that our “schools are failing at what the nation’s founders saw as education’s most basic purpose: preparing young people to be reflective citizens who would value liberty and democracy and resist the appeals of demagogues.”
They said today’s schools turn themselves inside out trying to prepare “college-and- career ready” students who can contend with economic globalization and economic competition and find a niche with private skills in the marketplace.
As for preparing them for American democracy? Raising civics literacy levels? Cultivating knowledge of democratic practices and beliefs with rigorous courses in history, literature and how democratic means have been used to improve the country? Not so much or maybe not at all, they suggest.
This has to change .And in Indiana, at least, a number of us are committed to changing it.
Women4Change is currently launching an effort to increase civic education; I am heading up a subcommittee that will encourage the formation of book clubs around the state focused upon the history and philosophy of America’s constitution. We will also be enlisting volunteers who will advocate in their local school systems for inclusion of the “We the People” curriculum, which is now entirely voluntary. Research has demonstrated that We the People has a salutary, lasting influence on students who have gone through it.
Citizens will not-cannot-protect what they don’t understand.

To honor of Gilbert Baker, the creator of the original rainbow pride flag who passed away last month, an arts and media organization teamed up with New York Pride organizers to create a specially designed rainbow font (typeface).
NewFest and NYC Pride worked with artists at Fontself, naming the font “Gilbert.” Baker was an artist and LGBT activist.
“We wanted to create something special that would not just honor Gilbert and his iconic Rainbow Flag but also give the LGBTQ community a fantastic tool to help them create their own banners, posters and signs,” according to a press release posted by LGBT political news/opinion site Joe My God. “People can now raise the Rainbow Flag with every letter they type. By literally embedding the Rainbow Flag into the font we made it possible for everyone around the world to type with pride.”
There is currently a preview version available, which will be changed based on user feedback.
“We are all driven by the same passion for self-expression and creativity. Today, we are releasing a preview version of the font and we will iterate based on the feedback of the community. We will also share behind-the- scenes updates so anyone interested in using the font or creating their own version can learn more about color fonts.”

See and download the font free at: www.typewithpride.com

Attention Fresno Readers: take part in one of the largest community events of 2017! Join us for the annual Fresno Rainbow Pride event, scheduled for Saturday, June 3rd from 10AM to 3PM in Fresno’s historic Tower District. We encourage everyone to attend! Join community members from all over California’s Central Valley as they take part in the largest annual event in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT+) community. With a bounce house and kids’ area, and various food vendors, this is sure to be one of the most fun-filled events you will attend this year. All ages are welcome and we encourage you to invite all of your family and friends. This is a great way to personally show your support for all members of our community as we work to show inclusion in the Fresno area. Join us for this amazing community celebration as we honor our 27th anniversary. This is a beautiful testament to Fresno’s growing support for everyone in the community, and you can be part of it.

Fresno Rainbow Pride includes a parade, from 10AM to 11AM, through the heart of Fresno’s historic Tower District with various contingents who march in support of the LGBT+ culture and pride of the LGBT+ community. Among the organizations scheduled to march are Peace Fresno, Trans-E-Motion, the Fresno County Library, FAB, Bobby Salazar’s, the Fresno Democratic Women’s Club, and the St. Paul Catholic Newman Center. The festival portion, from 11AM to 3PM, will include food and merchandise vendors and informational booths along with a dynamic live entertainment tent. This is the perfect event for anyone looking for a good festival, safe space, and friendly people. Among the organizations scheduled to have a table during the festival are Positive Life, Fresno Stonewall Democrats, Wells Fargo, First Congregational Church of Fresno, Promesa Behavioral Health, Turning Point, Pink Panthers Movement Fresno, LGBT Fresno, and Planned Parenthood. Attendees can look forward to enjoying delicious food from our vendors including Erlinda’s Shaved Ice, and Jay’s Specialty Ice Cream.

Don’t forget to visit the entertainment booth to watch dynamic performances from local entertainers as well as visitors from out of town. Those expected to grace the stage are the Ray Moore Band, Priscilla McNamara, Camilla P. Davis, Sasha Allure and Deja Sky. Attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy both live bands, singers, and lip sync performances. At Pride, we like variety. Like with previous years, we will kick off the fun in the entertainment tent with a series of performances by the Raging Grannies, whose lyrics are as poignant as their personalities.

The theme this year is “One Step Starts A Movement” to show that we are a part of a movement and together we can be a powerful unified front. Your visible support during this special day helps us to build a stronger community in the Fresno area. More information can be found at fresnorainbowpride.com. We hope to see you there!